Are more of you planning to move your DC from private to state for 6th form now?

[WomensRightsRenegade]

Apologies but just wondering this? My son is going into year 10 at a school he loves, but we are realising that even with a generous bursary, the 20pc VAT will mean it’s impossible for him to stay for 6th form.

I know it’s a transition phase anyway, but he will be very upset to leave as historically not many kids at the school have left then.

Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

Round my way lots go from private to the v big state 6th form college anyway.

However, it doesn't really matter what others do. You need to do what works for you and your family.

Lots of people moved into DS’s school for sixth form in year 12.

He has 2 years to get used to it, you just need to manage expectations I guess.

The private schools round here kick out anyone not expected to get at least 3 Bs at A level. Several of my son's friends in 6th form were in that situation.

Do you live in an area with 6th form colleges? The colleges near us are huge and offer a wider range of a-level courses than top private schools, so there are always a number of students who move at 16. It’s usually a minority, but I think the number will increase. The 6th forms are oversubscribed though, so it’s not guaranteed to get a place.

When my kids were at (state) school a fair number of private school kids joined the school at 6th form. This was quite a while back so nothing to do with fees. It's a natural transition point and I think quite a few young people do want a change and I suspect there was also an element of wanting to do A Levels and apply for university from a maintained rather than private school. It's a shame for the young person if they'd prefer to stay where they are but I'm sure they'll adapt

Echoing others - there are loads of children (private school and otherwise) joining my DC's school sixth form. Absolutely no issue.
These days it's easy to stay in touch with old friends via social media, so this really is the best of both worlds - both old friends and new!

I would suggest it's a good idea to look for a sixth form where there is a good intake though - if he was one of just a handful joining, it might be more awkward.

Check your 6th form colleges and schools as many give priority to kids already attending the school, and colleges give priority to schools in the academy chain. Many offer conditional places but after results day priority is given to those in the academy chain and other kids eg private get whatever courses are left over a couple of days later as they get a later enrolment day. Make sure you check.

Yes we will be moving both DC from private to state for sixth form. Was always in 2 minds but the VAT has tipped us over the edge (that, and the fact that their university grade offers will be lower if coming from our local state college vs their private school).

the state sixth forms near us kick out the kids who don’t meet their bar for the minimum gcse grades for their chosen A level subjects and then fill those places with ex private school students.

Well yes you’re right. Ultimately it’s a ‘tough shit’ kind of thing. It’s going to be hard for him spending two years knowing he’s going to be leaving - everyone already talks about what they’re going to do in 6th form - but better than finding out just beforehand.

Thank you - does help to know we’re not alone! But re universities I think they only take into account where GCSEs were taken?

It’s actually quite liberating to think of not having to worry about contributing towards fees and being under the school’s eye re everything we spend. But then my son does so many extra curriculars, that side of it will be particularly hard to give up.

Thank you but in that way we’re fortunate. There’s an excellent all-girl school very close that takes boys in the sixth form and we should be guaranteed an external place on distance. Girls already at the school automatically get a place but there are a decent number of external places. Other than that there is an excellent 6th form college that offers places based on pure lottery (and even then most who want it get in before the start of the year because of how most students apply for several tertiary places)

This is really positive, thanks so much. I was thinking that hopefully he wouldn’t lose his existing friendships. And may actually have the chance at a much better social life outside of school as at private schools there tends to be a v large catchment - and many going home on a school bus - which makes impromptu get togethers/ hanging out that much more difficult

@WomensRightsRenegade - thanks for starting this post. I’d also love to hear people’s experiences. In terms of my own situation, I have 3 DC at an amazing private school - they are all v academic and love it - but the fees are killing us. We can’t do it anymore. Eldest just has one more year, but plan is for younger two to go to state sixth form (there are some brilliant grammars they could hopefully go to).

Although my eldest says in retrospect a change of social scene would have been good for him before uni, and I’ve seen how his friends who made the private to state move have thrived, I am worried about it tbh. Worried mostly that they’ll miss their friends during the school day and be utterly miserable, that the teaching won’t be quite as good, that it will all seem a bit of a shock after the shiny privileged environments they’ve been used to.

I know the truth is that in many cases they’ll make great new friends, that the teaching could be as good or even better, and that it would do them some bloody good for their whole environment so gilded etc! But I still feel worried and pretty sad about it.

Have you explored burseries and scholarships for 6th form yet? In my area all the private schools earmark the bulk of the 110% burseries for Sixth Formers. So might be worth asking if it’s an option. You then would only need to pay VAT.

@Ozanj - thanks. Not sure what the op’s position is, but it doesn’t quite work like that at my dc’s school…

You’ve articulated everything I’m feeling. I really
am trying to focus on the advantages of being free of worrying about school fees. 6th form is really
only a short period, and possibly a better stepping stone to uni life. When the time comes to confirm my son is leaving that’s going to be incredibly hard though

I know it's different when it's not a choice, but we plan to encourage ours to at least look at and apply to other options for 6th form - state and private. There are different options that open up to them for post-GCSEs and I honestly feel like a lot of students benefit from a change in environment and addition of some new social groups at that age. They're also old enough to maintain friendships from separate schools if they see value in them.

In terms of small things to help, you might look at your budget and figure out an amount will be freed up without private tuition and some options for its use. Could you set aside an amount for some extra curriculars he's interested in? A car for him? A residential study experience of some sort? Help with housing when he goes to university? Obviously you don't need to do anything like bribe him to leave or let him blow the money on whatever he wants, but there might be reasonable things that private tuition was squeezing out of your budget before that become an option with a switch to state school.

Universities are wise to private school students moving to state school for sixth form. It's unlikely that going to your local state sixth form (even if it hits all the contextual indicators - and it's quite unusual for ex-private school parents to move their DC to sixth forms with poor history of success to university etc) alone will trigger a lower university offer.

@redskydarknight this is specific to our little patch of London where there are a few state secondaries that attract lower grade offers (separate from contextual offers that look at where GCSEs were sat) due to being specifically named on some universities’ opening access lists of target secondary schools. And yes it is unusual but every year there are more and more ex private school families making this move : the really troubled kids have been moved out after gcse so it’s a completely different cohort moving into sixth form. But it is a very niche situation and unlikely to be replicated in many other places in the uk. And I’ve based my comments on real-life examples of students I know who have moved to state sixth form and received a lower grade offer than their friends who remained at private and in all other ways had identical credentials (same family background, post code etc).

Why do you think the offers will be lower? Contextual offers are one thing, but state students aren't just offered lower grades as a matter of course.

I’m guessing it’s probably also very specific to one or two unis, eg Exeter or Bristol which are rammed with private school pupils already, or ones gaming the system like this.

Depends which unis you want offers from I guess.

No, it’s not a matter of course but some universities, eg Bristol, have a short list of secondaries that receive a lower offer, regardless of where GCSEs sat. Several friends’ children have been the beneficiaries of this; I was disbelieving but checked it out for myself (on Bristol’s access pages). I’m not saying I agree with it, as these were all privileged children. Other universities are more wise to this, eg Durham, and couple the short list of targeted secondaries with measures to weed out the kids who don’t need the help (eg look at post code as well).

@RidiculousPrice yes, that’s right. It’s just a couple of unis, but for some students it’s exactly mapped to what they’re after and the parents are delighted to save 2 years of school fees.

Same here. I wonder if we are thinking of the same area? This is in West Yorkshire.